The Battle of Life and Death

The three slowly walked to the center of the hall and stopped side by side.

The black-robed man standing in the middle coldly said, “I don’t think there’s a need to introduce us. Even if there are people who don’t know the three of us, they should know us by now. This gathering will be hosted by the three of us. Does anyone have any objections?”

The black-robed man’s voice was ice-cold. As soon as he said this, a vast aura suddenly erupted from his body. Soon after, a huge spiritual pressure descended upon the entire hall. When the cultivators present sensed the unfathomable Spiritual Qi fluctuations, their expressions changed slightly.

While Han Li was shocked by this person’s powerful magic power, he was also surprised.

Judging from the cold devilish Qi emanating from his body, he was most definitely Devil Concord of the Devil Dao. However, this old devil’s appearance was truly different from what he had imagined. Although he was the Grand Elder of the Concord Sect, his cultivation arts appeared more like the Ghost Spirit Sect’s devilish techniques!

Han Li did not know that in the past, the Great Elders of the Harmonious Bond Sect were all known as Devil Concord. Although the technique that the black-robed man cultivated was actually a demonic technique that had little to do with the Harmonious Bond Sect, he still had to take on the title of Devil Concord.

At that moment, the others felt the fearsomeness of the huge man. Although they felt somewhat uncomfortable, they weren’t stupid enough to challenge the authority of the three great cultivators.

For a time, the entire hall fell silent, tacitly acknowledging Devil Concord’s words.

The black-robed man expressionlessly said, “Good. Since there are no objections, let’s not waste any more time. In truth, there is no time to waste. This morning, the Moulans sent an envoy with a letter of challenge. They said that if we don’t agree to their conditions, we will fight to the death at the border in seven days.”

“Challenge letter?”

“Seven days?”

“What conditions?”

The cultivators were in an uproar.

“Brother Huh’s words are true. This is the other party’s letter of challenge. Fellow Daoists, please take a look at it before we discuss our countermeasures. Although the battle is coming earlier than we expected, with the abilities of everyone present, do you really think we’ll be afraid of the Moulans?” The Daoist priest with the sword on his back chuckled and calmly said.

Although his voice wasn’t loud, it was like a gentle breeze blowing past everyone’s faces, causing them to feel a chill in their hearts and immediately calm down.

The other cultivators were surprised and the uproar immediately subsided, but there were still some who muttered under their breath.

“The Sublime Truth Sect’s Tranquil Heart Technique is truly something.”

When the middle-aged Daoist priest heard these words, he acted as if he hadn’t heard them. Instead, he took out a bright red jade slip from his robe and casually tossed it to a grey-robed old man.

“This is the Moulans’ letter of challenge. Please take a look.”

After a moment of shock, the old man silently held the jade slip in his hand and swept his spiritual sense through its contents. His expression suddenly darkened and he tossed the jade slip to the person beside him with a cold expression.

The man took the jade slip and glanced at it with curiosity. His expression was also unsightly.

As the cultivators read the challenge letter in turns, Han Li sized up the Daoist priest and the green-robed old man.

The Daoist priest appeared to be in his forties. His skin was translucent and white, and his facial features were elegant and refined, giving off a favorable impression. He should be Master Sunreach of the Righteous Dao Alliance’s Sublime Truth Sect.

As for the green-robed old man, his appearance was too ordinary. Regardless of whether it was his attire or appearance, there was nothing special about him. The only thing that caught Han Li’s attention was that the old man had long fingernails on all ten of his fingers. These nails looked exceptionally sharp and were purple-black. They flickered with a faint light and were really quite eye-catching.

This person was naturally the Nine Nations Union’s Grand Elder, Wei Wuya.

Wei Wuya seemed to have felt Han Li’s gaze and turned his head to look at Han Li. After their eyes met, a trace of surprise appeared on his face, and he actually smiled at Han Li.

Han Li awkwardly smiled back, but he could not help but think to himself. If this person knew about Han Li and Nangong Wan, he might not be able to smile at me.

Just as Han Li was thinking, Long Han had already finished reading the jade slip in his hand and threw it to Han Li with an ugly expression.

Seeing the expressions of the people in front of him, Han Li was a little curious.

He immediately immersed his mind into the jade slip and began to read.

After a long while, Han Li frowned and withdrew his spiritual sense, silently handing the jade slip to another cultivator.

Not long after, the jade slip was passed through, and everyone’s expressions were unsightly. After one or two people finished reading it, they couldn’t help but coldly snort.

Master Sunreach of the Sublime Truth Sect faintly smiled and asked, “Fellow Daoists, what do you think after reading the letter of challenge?”

A brocade-robed man with a sinister expression coldly said, “How arrogant. They’re asking us to cede half of the Heavenly South Region to them. Do they think they’ll surely win against us?”

“That’s right. What do they mean by turning hostility into friendship as long as we give up some land? They think we don’t know that the Moulan people are nothing more than stray dogs. I’m afraid that we won’t even need to fight them in a decisive battle. Even if we drag things out, we’ll be able to slowly exhaust them to death,” another fat-headed old man said with a treacherous expression.

“Fellow Daoist Lu, what do you mean? Is it because your Thousand Fantasy Sect is deep in the Heavenly South Region that you don’t care about the lives of us sects? Of course, your Thousand Fantasy Sect doesn’t care about a prolonged war, but what about the other sects’ bases?” A large dark-skinned man sitting beside the fat old man spoke with an unfriendly expression.

The fat old man glanced at the dark-skinned man and indifferently said, “I’m doing this for everyone’s sake. If the sect base is gone, it can be rebuilt, but if a person dies, it will be impossible to revive.”

“Humph! It’s easy for you to say that. If our countries were to be abandoned, why would we cultivators block the spell warrior army for you fiendish sects? We might as well move our entire sects to Tian Luo. That way, not a single person would die,” another person said coldly.

“You…”

When the black-robed man heard this, his expression darkened and he suddenly rebuked, “Enough. The matter of whether or not to fight a protracted war has already been decided. There’s no need to discuss it at all. What we need to do now is to deal with the Moulan spell warrior army. We’re not going to let you fight internally.”

When the three saw that Devil Concord had spoken, they obediently shut their mouths despite their dissatisfaction.

After all, in the cultivation world, strength spoke for itself.

“Actually, there’s no need for the three of you to argue. We’ve already made our calculations. With the spell warrior army’s momentum, it’s impossible for us to fight a prolonged battle. If it weren’t for the fact that we’ve gathered most of the Heavenly South’s forces, we wouldn’t have been able to stop their attacks in the slightest. With the strength of a sect and a country, we’d most likely collapse as soon as we come into contact with them. When that time comes, we’ll most likely be the ones whose strength is exhausted. As such, we have to fight this battle, and we have to cripple the Moulans. There’s no way we’re going to get lucky.” Master Sunreach’s expression also turned solemn.

When the other cultivators heard this, they began to whisper amongst themselves before falling silent once more.

The Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator, Dong Mentu, suddenly asked, “But what are the Moulan people up to? If they want to fight, so be it. Why do they have to engage in a betting battle? Furthermore, they dare to place such a heavy bet. Even a large sect wouldn’t be able to produce so many precious materials. Didn’t they say that the Moulan Plains was lacking in cultivation resources?”

The other person seemed to know a lot about the Moulan people and explained, “I know that the Moulan Plains is indeed lacking in resources, but it’s only relative. There aren’t many spirit stone mines and commonly used raw materials in comparison to the large number of spell warriors. However, there are many rare materials in the Moulan Plains, and some are richer than ours in the Heavenly South. It’s not surprising that they’re able to take out so many materials.”

Dong Mentu slowly said with a pensive expression, “I see. But are they so confident that they will win? Apart from late-Nascent Soul cultivators, everyone else will be able to participate. A bet of ten matches, and life and death ones at that. Could it be that they think we cultivators are made of clay?”

Everyone present was a wily old fox, so they naturally knew that the Moulan people were definitely up to something when they proposed this battle. They couldn’t help but think that something was amiss.

Han Li was also puzzled.

The letter of challenge clearly stated that this battle would be held in front of the formations of both sides, so it was impossible for them to use any underhanded methods. Furthermore, the cultivators participating in the battle would directly bring the precious materials they were betting with to the arena, and the victor would be able to directly take away the other party’s storage pouch.

The only strange thing was that the challenge letter clearly stated that these ten battles had to be held at the same time. Furthermore, even if the cultivator were to lose, he or she wouldn’t be able to escape and could only die on the spot. For this reason, the battles were held within a sealed spatial barrier. This barrier was set up by both sides, and during the battles, the two parties would also send people to supervise the operation of the spell formations to prevent the other party from tampering with it.

“However, no matter what schemes the Moulan people have, this seems to be a good opportunity for us. If we can kill a few high-grade spell warriors before the battle, it will definitely be of great help to us.”

“Hmph, I’m afraid the Moulan people have the same idea as you.”

When one of them hesitantly said this, another immediately retorted with a sneer.

“What’s there to think about? If the Moulan people want to fight, should we fight? There’s no need for that. Seven days from now, we’ll still follow our own arrangements and won’t have to accept any gamble. This way, no matter what tricks the other party has up their sleeves, we’ll be able to crack them.” This was actually the Nihang Pavilion’s old man Kuang who spoke with disdain.

Master Sunreach sighed and helplessly said, “Unfortunately, although Fellow Daoist Kuang’s words are reasonable, we must participate in these battles. Furthermore, we must win.”

Old Man Kuang frowned and unhappily said, “What? What do you mean? We can’t be led by the nose by the Moulans!”

A few of the other old monsters nodded in agreement.